Abstract
Recent work on the nighttime economy in the UK has shifted from a focus on the consequences of excessive drinking to a consideration of new and emerging social and cultural trends. This chapter, based on research conducted over a period of several years, examines some of the factors contributing to greater diversity at night. Focusing specifically on young people’s leisure and women, we argue that British cities at night are not homogenous spaces focused only around alcohol-related leisure activities. Whilst certain practices continue to dominate, other forms of leisure, work and shopping have grown in importance. Equally, there is a corresponding trend amongst younger people to entertain in the home before venturing out. These and other trends are used as evidence to argue that the city at night is a broad and vexed social space shaped as much by economics as by changing patterns, performances and structures of gender, age and class.
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Eldridge, A., Roberts, M. (2013). Re-populating the Nighttime City: Hospitality and Gender. In: Henckel, D., Thomaier, S., Könecke, B., Zedda, R., Stabilini, S. (eds) Space–Time Design of the Public City. Urban and Landscape Perspectives, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6425-5_4
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